RWBY: Carbon
by S195
Summary: The adventures of Shane Carbon, a former member of the Vale Military Forces with a shady past, as he enrolls into Beacon Academy, where fights and romances will occur. New chapters every Friday. Feel free to leave feedback. Also, check out my friend "redjoker27" for his story, "Genesis III Project." I hope you enjoy. *NOTE* - The story takes place after the events of Episode 16.
1. Chapter 1 - Introductions

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

I'm not gonna bore you with a full story about my life from childbirth or about my family. I'm just gonna give you the parts I find are more important, so that way you understand who I am, what I do and did in my life, and hopefully not bore you to death in the process. So, let's begin:

**Name:** Shane Carbon (Shane is Hebrew for "God is Gracious." Carbon is the mineral, commonly black in color)

**Age:** 18

**Gender:** Male

**Height:** 5''8'

**Weight:** 135 lbs

**Handedness:** Left

**Physical Appearance:** Caucasian; My left eye is brown, while my right is dark red. I've got dark brown hair in a buzz-cut style. I have a slim but muscular build. I also have three scars to the right side of my face ( a vertical one on the right side of my forehead, just above my eye that reaches up near the hairline, and two separate ones coming down at a diagonal starting right at the bottom of my right eye socket) as well as laceration scars on my chest, upper arms, and back, as well as gunshot scars on my chest that went all the way through out my back.

**Personality: **Describing my personality...I guess I can say I'm calm, polite, caring and compassionate towards others, patient, and very difficult to piss off (unless of course I'm provoked or harasses for too long).

**Hobbies/Interests:** I enjoy going to the shooting range to practice, sparring, doing routine maintenance on my equipment, reading a good book, and conversing with people even though I'm very shy until other approach me.

**Dislikes:** The White Fang, The Creatures of Grimm

**Weapon(s)/Equipment:** Let's start off with "Bangalore," which is basically a triple barrel shotgun with razor sharp blades running each barrel. Then there's my pistol, .40 Caliber, 15 round magazine, and a built-in suppressor. Then last but certainly not least, there's my collapsible baton...kinda self explanatory.

**Semblance:** Invisibility

**Fighting Style: **As for fighting style, I'm usually more defensive in sparing and general combat, where I tend to use counter attacks. However, in self defense situations, I'm tend fight aggressively and using surprise to my advantage, and I'm not afraid to kill another person if the need were to ever arise.

* * *

Now for what you've been waiting for, my back story;

I began my training in unarmed combat when I was only six years old, melee weapons at eight, and firearms nine, showing a high degree of proficiency in each aspect of combat, but I continue to seek improvement whenever possible. I ended up enlisting in Vale's Military Forces when I turned 14, where I lied about my age since the minimum was 16. I ended up becoming a very obedient and highly skilled soldier, which was noted by my superiors.

At 17 years, I was unfortunate to be a part of a botched attack on a White Fang Stronghold where my entire unit was wiped out within minutes, and me being the sole survivor. I was wounded by gunfire and I tried to hold off the relentless White Fang attack, while using the radio to get an extraction or support at the very least. Now mind you, this wasn't word for word, but the basics of what Command said was "Uh, go f*ck yourself, Shadow Squad, you're on your own. Over and out." Basically, my superiors left me for dead. Within seconds, I was surrounded and out of options but to surrender, so I laid down my weapon. Just then, one of the White Fang members decides to step forward and strike me across the face with the butt of his rifle, and thus not only knocking me out, but also scarring my face. I was then captured, and over the course of over a month, had to endure the pain and suffering of being brutally tortured, which lead to additional scars all over the upper half of my body, and the development of my hatred towards the White Fang. During my time in my cell, I discovered my semblance of invisibility, which was one of the only things that I had available for my escape, aside from unarmed combat skills. When I finally saw my chance to escape, I took it. I escaped the stronghold and made my way back to Vale after days of constant running and evading White Fang patrols, as well as packs of Grimm.

When I finally made it back to Vale, I went to the hospital to get proper medical treatment. The medical staff couldn't believe what I had been through, let alone still being alive. A couple of weeks later, I was released, which was the day before my birthday. The next day, rather than celebrate, I went to the Military Office to get my files and 'haunt' them in a way; That being giving them my opinion about leaving your troops for dead, rather than trying to help them. They begged me to return to duty, even though they had declared me Killed in Action (KIA). I refused and told them that I was done being seen as merely a pawn in their little war game against the White Fang, and I marched out. For the rest of the day and into the night, I thought about what I was going to do with myself, and I finally came to a conclusion; I would go to Beacon to become a Hunter.

* * *

The next day, which is the present, I find myself just outside Professor Ozpin's office, waiting patiently enroll as a student into his academy. I'm dressed in my normal combat attire which consists of a black combat shirt, a black low visibility ballistic vest over top, blue jeans, tan suede combat boots, and a black duty belt to hold all my equipment. He eventually calls me in and asks me to take a seat. My heart is just racing with excitement at this point.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Shane Carbon, sir. It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

"To you as well. It's not everyday that I have the honor of speaking to a dead man."

"I beg your pardon, sir?"

"Well it says here, in your Military record; 'Shane Carbon – KIA.' "

"Ah, I understand. If you would care to let me expl-"

"That will not be necessary, Mr. Carbon. I've already taken the liberty of reading over your files; Quite impressive, might I add."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hmm, over three years in the Military; Combat experience; Proficient in armed and unarmed combat; Survived imprisonment and torture by the hands of the White Fang. Does all this information sound about right, Mr. Carbon"

"Yes, sir, it does. No disrespect, sir, but I would rather not talk about...the White Fang, if that's alright with you."

"No problem at all. So...you want to come to my school?"

"Absolutely, sir."

"Well alright, but since teams have already been formed, you will have to choose which one you would like to be on."

"Alright, what are my options, sir?"

Ozpin then hands me a tablet with a list of three team names from top to bottom; RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL, and says, "I'll give you some time to decide," then walks out.

* * *

I begin go through the list of each team, and their individual members. I decide to start with CRDL and work my way up the list of teams. I start with 'Cardin Winchester,' the leader of CRDL. Not even half a minute of reading, I already realize how much of a douche-canoe his is, and I figure his teammates will be the same; _Pass_.

On to team JNPR; Jaune Arc is the leader, and has a record of being a great tactician, but not so good as a fighter, unlike his teammate, Pyrrha Nikos. She on the other hand, seems to be one hell of a good fighter for having a four year record at the Mistral Tournament. Nora Valkyrie; seen as being a good fighter, but a little overactive...hell, what am I saying, she seems to have too much crack in her coco puffs every morning. Lie Ren; a good fighter, and described as being mellow for the most part, and being very good at cooking, so there's a bonus. I'll have to keep this team in mind.

Finally, I decide to look at team RWBY, where Ruby Rose is the leader, and a very skilled scythe-wielder. I was a bit surprised to see her as the leader, and being the youngest on the team and at Beacon, but hey, who am I to judge? Weiss Schnee; Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, with a high degree of swordsmanship, as well as great knowledge about Dust. Blake Belladonna; Considered cool, reserved, and serious most of the time, but doesn't lack a sense of humor. "Hmm, she kinda reminds me of myself," I say to myself, quietly. Last and certainly not least, Yang Xiao Long; Ruby's older sister, energetic and bright, and seen as a brawler.

After a few minutes of debating, Professor Ozpin walks back in and takes a seat at his desk.

"Well, Mr. Carbon, have you made your decision?"

"Yes, sir. I choose Team RWBY."

"Alright, now keep in mind that this is an all female team, so you will have to find some way to live with them."

"Understood, I''m sure I'll figure something out."

"Good. In the mean time, let me take you to their dorm to introduce you." He stands up and makes his way to the door, and I follow.

* * *

We begin to maneuver through the halls, where students would look at me and whisper to each-other, probably saying things like; "Who's that guy?" "Is he new here?" "I wonder where he got those scars on his face." Anyways, we finally arrive at Team RWBY's dorm, and I could hear them conversing about what ever girls converse about; Makeup, shopping, ex boyfriends, and all that other crap I could care less about. Ozpin knocks, and Ruby answers.

"Hey Professor Ozpin, what can I do for you?" She said.

"Ruby, I have someone to introduce to you, this is Shane Carbon." as he points to me.

Showing a little expression of surprise on her face, probably from seeing my scars and my dark red eye, she cheerfully says, "Hi, I'm Ruby Rose, it's nice to meet you."

"Like wise," I said as I nodded in acknowledgment and smile.

Ozpin than says, "Shane just enrolled to Beacon, and is going to be a new addition to your team."

"Oh," being quite surprised, "Really?"

"Yes, now, if you would be so kind as to introduce him to the rest of your team for me, I need to get

back to my office to do some paperwork"

"Sure thing, Professor," she says as he walks away.

"Come on Shane, I'll introduce you to the team!" She says in a cheerful manor as she takes my hand and guides me in to the dorm.

'_This should be good_,' I think to myself.

* * *

Be sure to check out my friend "redjoker27."


	2. Chapter 2 - Getting Settled In

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

"Hey guys! I've got someone to introduce you to! This is Shane" Ruby says in a cheerful tone as I'm dragged into the dorm room. I nod and give a little wave to the team.

The girls give me an odd glare like '_Who dafuq's this guy?_'.

"Ruby, you didn't tell me you have a boyfriend."

"Wha- No! He's not my boyfriend, Yang!"

"Sureeeee, what ever you say, Sis."

"It's true." I step forward. "I actually just met her a few seconds ago. My name is Shane Carbon. I, uh...just enrolled to the school, and I'm...a part of your team now."

All but Ruby look at me in complete shock.

"Ruby, did you know about this?!" Weiss says, obviously pissed off.

"What? No! Not until Ozpin knocked and introduced me to him!" as Ruby tries to defend herself.

"But we've already done the initiation. How did you get in?" Blake asks, looking up from her book with curiosity.

"Well, uh...*sigh*, it's a long story..."

"Well, you better start talking, because I'm not gonna be sleeping in the same room with a guy I know nothing about." Weiss snaps at me, giving me a stare that puts a chill down my spine. '_Jeez, who shat in her coffee this morning?_'

"Alright, alright, look how about this; I'll just give you the short and brief version; No sugar coating or any of that nonsense. Sound good?" They all nod to me.

"Basically," I take a deep breath, "I served in the Military for over three years. I was recently imprisoned by the White Fang after a botched attack on one of their strongholds, and my superiors left me for dead. I spent over a month in captivity until I managed to escape and make my way back to Vale, all while avoiding White Fang kill squads and packs of Grimm. When I got to the safety of the city, I admitted myself to the hospital and spent a couple weeks there, recovering. When I got out, I went and got my files from the Military Office, then came here to enroll into the school, and I was accepted on the spot. Now I'm here, trying to explain myself to four beautiful young ladies of why a 'dead man walking' is currently standing in their dorm room, hoping not to be butchered in the next few seconds at the same time." I give a brief pause. "So... yeah."

* * *

There was nothing but complete and utter silence for nearly a minute. All four of the girls did nothing more than just stare at me with complete and utter shock on their faces.

"Don't believe me? Talk to Ozpin. He's got my files in his office, I'll even let you look at them yourselves."

The girls then look to each other, not knowing what to say to me.

"I...I'm so sorry, I had no idea..." Blake said, with her eye's beginning to tear up. I walk over to her bed, kneel down next to her, put my hand on her shoulder, and smile to comfort her.

"Yeah, that's...rough, I'm sorry..." Yang said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Same, I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for you." Ruby said.

The three then look to Weiss to see what she's gonna say. She was silent for a moment. She seemed almost defiant to say anything.

"Well...I...don't really know what to say. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did."

"Look, girls, it's okay...I - I really appreciate your concern, but I don't want to feel as though I'm a burden on any of you in any way, shape, or form." I look to Weiss, "I understand how you feel and where you're coming from. Honestly, I'd probably feel the same way if I was in your position."

"Well...for what's it worth, I really am sorry, I guess I kinda jumped the gun on the whole situation."

"Gee, you think?" Yang snaps at her with sarcasm.

"Quiet you!" Weiss fires back.

"Girls! Girls! Listen, it's alright. Okay? I accept your apologies. Can we just declare a truce or something, and carry on with the introductions, please? "

After a few seconds...

"Sorry, Shane. I'm Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister."

"Blake Belladonna."

"Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the-"

"The Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest dust mining and refining companies in the world." I finish her sentence.

"How'd you-? Did you just read my mind?"

"No, but I know the name well enough. The SDC provides the Military with a wide array of weapons and munitions, very well made ones I should say."

"Well...thank you. I appreciate your admiration for my family's company."

"No problem." I wink to her, and her face begins to go light pink.

"Well, with that out of the way, we gotta figure out where I'm gonna sleep..."

The girls look to each other again, puzzled. I figure none of them want to share a bed with a guy, especially one they just met.

"Well...I doubt there's any spare beds lying around, so you'll either have to make one, or just improvise" Ruby said.

"Meh, even a chair with decent padding will work for me."

"Well...you could share my bed." Yang says in a flirty tone.

"Oh, uh...well I appreciate the offer Yang, but I don't feel it would be...appropriate. You know what I mean?"

"Well, don't say I didn't offer" as she winks at me.

"Well, I saw an old green reclining chair in the lounge that nobody uses." Blake says.

"Hmph, that could work. So, uh where exactly is the lounge anyways?"

"I'll show you" as Blake closes her book, takes my hand, and leads me out of the dorm and to the lounge.

* * *

When Blake and I arrive at the lounge, I take few seconds to examine the chair. "Perfect, this will do."

"Wait, before we head back, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course! What do you wanna know?"

"When you said you were...tortured by the White Fang. Did that have any negative affect on your perception of the Faunus?"

"What, like the average Faunus? Like ones with no affiliation to the White Fang?"

She nods

"No, not at all. I respect anybody as long as they do the same in return. I don't care what race they are or anything that would make them be considered 'different'. Heck, their skin color could be bright orange, and I won't complain!" We both start to laugh.

"So...what about the White Fang?"

"Oh, yeah, I hate them. Correction; I despise them, but it's because of what they do, and what they did to me. It's not that I'm against equality rights for the Faunus race, as a matter of fact, I'm in favor of them having equal rights, and I respect what they're trying to do, but when they start to throw violence into the mix; That's a big no-no for me. Why?"

"Oh, um...just wondering..." She looks away.

"Hmph, alright," and I shrug. It's obvious that she's trying to hide something from me, but I think I'm better off just leaving it for another time. Besides, we just met, and I'm sure she won't say anything until she get's to know me a little more, and we both feel we can trust each other.

I go behind the chair, take a firm grip, and nearly lift it with minimal effort and then proceed to carry it back to the dorm room. I could see Blake's expression of amazement, and she begins to blush; '_I can only imagine what's going on in her head right now..._' We get back to the dorm and I decide to set the chair down in the middle of the room, facing the window and the beds. At least the sunrise will wake me up in the morning.

* * *

As I arrive, Weiss has nearly the same reaction as Blake. "Nice work, Soldier boy. How'd you manage that?"

I shrugged, "Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are. I guess the training I went through really helps with this kind of stuff."

"You've got that right" Yang says, also admiring my strength.

"Listen, girls; I gotta go grab a school uniform for tomorrow, so I'll be back in a bit."

"Alright, just remember, classes start at 9:00am!" Ruby yells to me as I go out the door. I stop and stick my arm back through the doorway and give a thumbs up,

"Got it," then I continue making my way down the hall. I went and got two sets of uniforms from the office and returned in about half an hour, but find the whole team already in bed and asleep. I set the uniforms down next to my chair, take a seat, and pull the handle to open up the leg rests and allow the back portion recline. '_Well, time to get some rest._' It takes some time, but I manage to finally fall asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I wake up, but the sun's barely up yet. I check the clock on the wall; 7:18am. I decide to get up and have a quick shower before the girls wake up. You know woman, they usually take forever. Normally people say it's better to have cold showers in the morning to wake up, but for me? I have extremely hot showers and they work just as well. After that, I get dressed into my uniform, with my utility belt concealed underneath my suit jacket. I come out of the bathroom to find the girls are still asleep, so I check the time again; 7:36am. '_Well, class doesn't start until 9:00am, so why not get a little extra rest?_' That I did, until I woke up to someone punching my arm, hard.

"UH! Whaaaaat?" I groan in response. I look up to see Yang standing over me, already in her uniform.

"Oh, Yang...you're a quite a sight for sore eyes." She smirks in response.

"Alright Romeo" she grabs my arm and literally yanks me out of the chair and I almost fall flat on my face. It could have been worse; she could have ripped my arm right out of the socket; Now that would have been just dandy. "It's quarter to nine, we gotta head to class."

"Alright, alright, sheesh." I say in a groggy tone. I give my head a shake, and I look around to notice that everybody else already left. We then proceed to the first class of the day; Grimm Studies with Professor Port.

* * *

Be sure to check out my friend "redjoker27."


	3. Chapter 3 - Grimm Studies

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

Yang and I arrive to our first class of the day with a few minutes to spare. We were just in time for attendance to be taken. Grimm Studies; quite an interesting class which is supposed to teach us about the types of Grimm we're likely to encounter, their behavior patterns, tactics of how to defeat them, etc. However, our teacher, Professor Port, despite having a plethora amount of stories to tell the class, habitually makes his students fall asleep, or just loose complete interest in the topic. In my case, I am becoming more and more tempted to jam a grenade down his throat with a string attached to the pin, take a seat from a far, give the string a tug, then sit back and let the fireworks display commence.

* * *

I look over to my team to find Yang asleep, Ruby doodling, and Weiss taking notes, all which didn't surprise me. However, I watch Weiss for a moment, who's just shredding through her pencil and paper, taking notes. I'm amazed that she hasn't caused her notes to catch fire from how fast she's writing. I watch her for a moment in admiration, until she looks up at me and we make eye contact, which we hold for a few seconds before quickly looking away and blushing.

I then turn my focus to Blake, who is immediately to my right, seated between Weiss and I, just reading her book and not giving a single damn about anything and everything going on around her. I think to myself, '_Hmm, I wonder what's she reads._' As I lean back to relax in my...not so relaxing seat, I decide to take a subtle glace over her shoulder to feed my curiosity. I read the first couple of sentences and realize that it's a romance novel. '_Hmm, interesting._' All of the sudden, I notice her bow twitch, and all I can think is, '_What in the name of all things holy?_'

* * *

Moments later, my focus turns to Professor Port, "Now, who would like to test their skills against a Beowolf."

I raise my hand, "I'll do it, sir."

"Well then. Step forward, and face your opponent."

I begin to stand, and Blake gently takes hold of my wrist, "Shane, are you sure about this?" she whispers. It's obvious that she's concerned, since it's only my second day (if you want to include last nights shenanigans as my first).

I put my hand on hers in assurance and she starts to blush from the sudden contact. "I'm sure. Besides, I gotta brush up on my fighting skills." She defiantly lets go, still having a sense of uncertainty, which she shared with the rest of the team, but I continue to make my way down the stairs to the center of the room, where Professor Port is waiting. I go around to the front of the row where my team sits and I remove my suit jacket, along with my utility belt and set them down on the desk.

"You mind holding on to these for me?" as I smile to my comrades. They nod. I then turn my attention to the teacher, who is now standing next to a heavy steel cage, which is rattling quite violently. '_Jeez, that Beowolf really wants out._'

"Do you have a weapon to use, Mr- err, my most sincere apologies, but I seem to have forgotten your name."

"Carbon. Shane Carbon, sir." as I take my position, about 20 feet away from the cage.

"Ah, yes, of course. Do you have a weapon to fight with, Mr. Carbon?"

"Right here, sir" as I raise my fists, maintaining a boxing stance. I begin to hear some of the students whisper to each other, and my team looks at me in shock. I don't really blame them for thinking I'm insane. Even Professor Port raises an eyebrow to me. Who knows, maybe deep down, I am insane and I just don't know it yet. Oh well, time will tell whether I need to blow all my Lien on a Therapist or not.

* * *

"Uh...very well, let the match...BEGIN!" as he takes his weapon and butchers the lock in one swing. The door flies open, revealing the Beowolf, and man, he is one ugly son of a gun! It comes charging out at me full speed, but I manage to roll out of the way to avoid its attack. It uses so much power in its charge that it doesn't have time to stop and ends up crashing into the wall behind me, but it manages to come to its senses and begins to approach me again but slower and more cautious this time around. '_At least it's smart enough to learn from it's mistakes._'

The Beowolf stands at least a foot and a half over me, where I stand merely 5''8', but it's size doesn't intimidate me. I'm certainly not underestimating what Beowolves are capable of, but at the same time, I'm not gonna go and make assumptions about them based on hearsay.

When I'm within the Beowolf's reach, it begins to take swings at me, but I manage to block several attacks by utilizing my aura to reinforce my forearms and hands, causing them to glow in a blue tint, but act as my shield. Occasionally, when the Beowolf takes a swing at me, I lean back to create space between the two of us and change positions in order to make myself a harder target. Without the use of my aura, I probably would have lost my arms on the first strike.

When the Beowolf finally opens itself up for an attack, I deliver a hefty punch with my left hand directly to its chest and I hear a loud crack; probably one or two of it's ribs breaking. The impact forces the Beowolf back a few feet, but it doesn't hesitate to retaliate.

I then decide to use "bursting" (Krav Maga style) to block the oncoming attack, while delivering a counter attack at the same time. I do it, striking it right in the throat with my right hand, while blocking with my left arm, causing it's arm to slide down mine and slash its own thigh with its razor sharp claws.

The Beowolf attempts to cry out in pain, but chokes due to the strike to the throat. The self inflicted injury distracts it long enough for me to flank and kick the back of its knee, causing it to collapse. I then kick it right in the back and make it crash to the floor, and from there, I climb over top of it, grab its lower jaw, and yank back on its head with all my strength. The Beowolf gives one last growl of defiance, refusing to be defeated. The growls and roars muffle my yells as I push my body to its limit in an attempt to finish the fight and end the Beowolf's suffering. Within seconds, *CRACK*, I snap it's neck, killing it instantly.

* * *

I begin to hear gasps amongst the class, which doesn't surprise me, followed by complete silence for a moment. I stand up and look to the class, where the majority were in complete shock. They hesitate, but eventually begin to give me a round of applause, and I bow my head in return.

"Marvelous job, Mr. Carbon! I couldn't have done it better myself."

I begin to lean over with my hands on my knees, panting from exhaustion, but manage to acknowledge Professor Port, "Thank you, sir." as I raise my hand and give him a subtle salute.

"You see students, that was a perfect example of hand to hand combat in conjunction with aura. I'm sure each of you could learn a thing or two from Mr. Carbon, here."

*The bell rings*

"Well that concludes today's session. Remember students; Stay Vigilant. Class dismissed."

* * *

Just as the class begins to leave, my team comes running down to me with shock and amazement on their faces. They hand me my belt, which I put on, and my suit jacket, which I decide to just carry.

"That was amazing, Shane. I'm impressed." Blake says with admiration.

"But it was incredibly dangerous." Weiss says with a sour tone.

"Come on Weiss, you gotta agree that was AWESOME!" Yang says as she raises her fist in the air.

"Okay, that was 'cool,' but you gotta promise not to do anything reckless like that again."Weiss responds.

"Sorry, Weiss. I can't make a promise if I can't guarantee that I can keep it." I say in a genuine manner.

"Well I think you did great. Way to represent Team RWBY!" Ruby cheers. The rest of the team then gives her a glare.

"Err, RWBY-S...Team RWBYS. Sorry." she then says sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm still trying to get use to the fact of being on a team, especially after being on my own for quite some time." I then look around the room to see the five of us are the only ones left, and then shrug to the team, "So now what?"

"LUNCH TIME!" Ruby yells as she bolts out the door, leaving a cloud of rose petals in her wake.

I look to the rest of the team, "Has she ever considered trying decaffeinated coffee."

"Nope" they all respond together. I face-palm in response. We decide to go back to the dorm and get changed in to our combat attire, then head for the cafeteria. As we start to leave;

"Hey Shane, what do you think about trying to fight me?" Yang says.

"What do you mean, just as practice, or full blown combat?"

"All out." she says as she gives me a smirk.

"Hmm, I'm tempted. I'll have to follow up with you on that later."

"Works for me." she says as she winks to me.

'_Christ, I know I'm gonna regret this..._' I think to myself.

* * *

Be sure to check out my friend "redjoker27."


	4. Chapter 4: Lunch Time

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

After class, we go back to the dorm to get changed into our combat attire, then head over to the cafeteria for lunch. Today's meal is said to be steak and mashed potatoes, and damn, does it smell good. I take my dish and follow the team over to a table and sit down. Soon, Team JNPR comes and joins us, and I'm introduced to them.

"Hey guys, we've got someone for you to meet! This is Shane, a new member of our team." Ruby calls out.

"Really? I had no idea we have new students" Pyrrah said.

"Oh, no, it's just me...as far as I know. Anyways, I just enrolled and joined the team yesterday evening."

"Yes, we saw you carry that recliner chair into the dorm room last night, but didn't get the chance to speak to you." Ren says.

"Ah, well...better late than never, right?"

"Well, this is Jaune Arc, our team leader" as Pyrrah points to the blond haired boy.

"H-hey" he says sheepishly. I nod to him.

"I'm Pyrrah–"

"Ah, yes, Pyrrah Nikos, I've heard about you – a four year record at the Mistral Tournaments. Very impressive, might I add."

"Well, thank you, I'm very flattered." She begins to go a little pink. "Anyways, this is Nora Valkyrie" as she points to the girl in pink.

"HELLO!" Nora yells, full of energy and ready to bounce off the bloody walls. '_Seriously, too much crack in the damn coco puffs!_'

"Hey."

"And this is Lie Ren, but we just call him Ren," as she points to the guy in green attire.

We just simply nod to each-other as he already has his mouth full of food.

"Well it's nice to meet the four of you. I look forward to working with you."

* * *

I start digging into my meal. "Damn, this stuff beats eating MREs, that's for sure."

"M-What?" everybody says, looking at me with puzzled looks.

"MREs...Meals Ready to Eat. It was the kind of food I used to eat back in the army, but the taste was craptastic...except for the bread and ranger bars, oh ho ho, those were the best!"

"Wait! Y-you were in the army?" Jaune asks.

"Yeah, I was. Over three-"

My sentence is cut off by the sight of Team CRDL harassing a young woman across the way. Why you may ask? Simply because she's a Faunus, which is apparent due to her long, brown colored rabbit ears. They're tugging away on her ears, all while verbally abusing her; a sight that absolutely disgusts me to the point that I'm robbed of my appetite.

"I'll be right back..." as I put down my utensils and begin to stand up.

"Shane, don't. They outnumber you four to one" Pyrrah says, concerned.

I look back to her, "I may be outnumbered, but I'm not out-manned," and continue to approach the table where CRDL and the girl are, with both RWBY and JNPR watching my every move.

I activate my semblance of invisibility after taking a few steps and I hear everybody gasp in shock, but I don't look back and remain focused on my target. I approach Cardin from behind, trying to maintain the element of surprise. As I get nearly arms length away from him, I slowly draw my pistol from my belt holster and calmly rack the slide, so he can hear the sound of cold steel on polymer, and the inner workings of the pistol preparing for what it's designed to do.

* * *

"Wait, what was that sou- OW!" Cardin's question being cut off by my gun being jammed into his left temple, and disengaging my invisibility, simultaneously. This causes his teammates to become frozen in fear, with eyes like a deer in headlights.

"Let go of her ear..." He doesn't comply.

"Let. Go. Of. Her. Ear. **Now**," I say as I apply more pressure. He finally chooses to comply and releases her.

I look over to the girl and calmly say, "Miss, would you so kind as to scoot over to the side for me, please?"

She moves over to let me sit down. Her face starts to turn a light pink, probably from me calling her 'Miss.'

"Thank you." as I take a seat between her and Cardin, while still having my gun jammed in his temple.

I look at him, dead in the eye, "What's your name?"

"C-C-Cardin"

"Hello Cardin, I'm Shane. Let's cut to the chase – I'm gonna ask you one question, and all I want is a yes or no answer. Do you want to live?"

"Y-yes..."

"Good. Now I'm only gonna say this once, so if you actually have a brain bobbing around inside that thick skull of yours– " I say as I tap the side of his head with my index finger, "–and you don't want to become another statistic in the list of people I've already killed, I'd suggest paying very close attention to what I'm about say to you."

I give a momentary pause.

"If I ever see you harassing this beautiful young lady again, or rather, ANY of my friends or teammates, I'm gonna drive a bullet right through your skull. Even though this gun's loaded with subsonic ammo, one round is enough to turn your head into a canoe; I've done it before, and I'm not afraid to do it again."

Sky and Dove try to run."Don't try and run on me boys–" they stop dead in their tracks and look back at me, frozen in fear, "–because I've got fifteen little friends...and they can all run faster than you can" I say while still holding my gun to Cardin's head, but now it's jammed into his forehead.

"Now, Mr. Winchester – Do I make myself clear?" Cardin doesn't answer and just sits there, trying to stare me down and bare he teeth like the dog he is. '_Alright, enough of the Mr. Nice Guy routine._' I decide to take my gun and jam it in his mouth to the point where he starts to gag on it. I also notice that an imprint of the suppressor is left on his forehead.

"**I said**...Is. That. Understood?"

He gags for a moment, but eventually nods to acknowledge.

"Yes!...Yes!" He gargles.

"Good." I yank my gun out of his mouth, which causes him to nearly cough out a lung.

"Now get out of my sight...all four of you." as I give the rest of his team the death stare. After a few seconds, they run out the door of the cafeteria. I holster my pistol and turn my attention to the young Faunus girl, who's obviously shaken up from the whole ordeal.

* * *

I put my hand on her shoulder, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I-I'm...fine, but m-my ears hurt...a lot."

"Hmm, lets see if I can fix that for ya," as I raise my hand up and gently touch her ear, to which she jumps away from me.

"It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"N-no." She's physically shaking in fear.

"Listen, I'm not like those scum bags. All I want is to help you."

"Y-you're lying! Everybody I've ever know has l-lied to me, treated me like I'm worthless, all because of me being a Faunus."

"I know exactly how you fee-"

"No you don't! Nobody does, or ever will."

"Look...I understand that you're in a lot of pain, not just physically, but mentally as well. I've actually been there, and...*sigh* and I didn't have anybody around to help guide me out of the darkness. I was all alone for quite some time, being lost and afraid. Then I look at you, and I see someone trapped in darkness as well, and I want to help guide you out into the light. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, b-but why should I trust you?"

"You have no reason to trust me, but believe me," as I rest my hand on my chest, "I've had my fair share of being bullied, brutalized and betrayed in my life. All I'm asking is for you to allow me to help you. Please...let me help you" I say as I look her in the eye with a sincere tone in my voice.

A moment of silence.

"O-okay."

"Alright." as I slowly raise my hand, once again to her ear and gently make contact. I use my aura to surround the base of her ears and use it to relax her muscles and ease the pain, much like I had done during my imprisonment to deal with my wounds from being shot and tortured. After a moment of doing this, I slowly pull my hand away, and the aura begins to fade.

"Better?"

"Y-yes...t-thank you." I just smile to her in response.

"I'm Shane, by the way. Shane Carbon."

"V-Velvet Scarlatina."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," as I take her hand and kiss it as a kind gesture, and she giggles while beginning to blush.

* * *

"I'll be right back" as I stand up, activate my semblance, and walk back to the table where RWBYS and JNPR are still watching me. As I get next to the table, everybody is frantically looking around trying to find me. I deactivate my semblance right next to Ruby and Jaune, who are sitting at the end of the table, just for sh*ts and giggles, and they nearly jump out of their skin. I grab my tray of food,

"Change in plans team, I'll be dining else where today. I'll see you in the next class" I say as I walk away, leaving everybody stunned and probably thinking, '_What the hell just happened?_'

I head back to Velvet's table, take a seat opposite of her, and begin to chat with her. For someone who's so shy and timid, she really is a nice girl. At the end of lunch, we both begin to leave.

"So Velvet, what class do you have next?"

"History with Professor Oobleck."

"Same here! Come on, I'll walk you there." I proceed to escort her to class.

* * *

Be sure to check out my friend "redjoker27."


	5. Chapter 5 - Reminiscing

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

Velvet and I soon arrive to the History Class, and take a seat next to Blake and Pyrrah, where Blake is on my left, and Velvet to my right. Of course Cardin is in the same class as well, but he doesn't see me as he enters and takes a seat at the other end of the classroom.

Now if you ask me how I would describe Doctor Oobleck's class, I would have to say it's like watching a tennis match. The guy moves around so much, probably from all the coffee he drinks, none of us even see his feet move! I damn near snap my neck from moving my head back and forth to keep up with him. The bright side to it is that he keeps the class awake and aware, unlike Professor Port, where you feel like you're in purgatory.

History is one of my favorite subjects, so I feel right at home in the class. At one point in the class, Oobleck asks Cardin to answer a question in relation to the Faunus Rights Revolution, to which he gives a smart-ass racist remark towards the Faunus race. I decide to step up and refresh his memory of what we discussed during lunch.

I raise my hand, "Doctor Oobleck?" Cardin flinches at the sound of my voice, knowing damn well it's me.

"Yes?"

"Pardon the interruption, sir. May I butcher Mr. Winchester's carcass and wrap him in cheesecloth?" I ask in a calm monotone voice

Cardin looks over in my direction, and I turn to make eye contact with him. He shows obvious signs of being intimidated.

"...No, Mr. Carbon. You may not..."

"Alright" as I shrug "...maybe later." as I give Cardin a glare and smirk. All he does is nervously swallow. Let's just say he shuts up for the rest of the class.

* * *

Several weeks pass, and it's nothing more than the same routine over and over again – Wake up, go to Grimm Studies, have lunch, go to History class, go to the dorm, do homework or spend time with my team, then go to sleep. The bright side of it all is that the down time allows me to sit down and get to know each of the girls on a more personal level, although I admit that there are somethings that I have yet to tell them.

To be quite honest, out of the four, I would have to say that I've been able to connect with Blake the most. Why? I guess it's the fact that we share similar interests and similar personality traits. Need some examples? Well we both share an interest in books, but she tends gets a bit defensive and blush when I mention romance novels. We both are...reserved in a sense. She usually keeps to herself and reads her books, while I tend to stay quiet until I have a good reason to speak, but don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid to stand up for what I believe in, even if it opposes the views of others.

* * *

One day, after we're dismissed from History class, I decide to head back to the dorm on my own. I arrive to find no one's around. I try to think of what I should do to pass the time, and I come to the conclusion that I'd do some pushups to warm myself up for the fight with Yang tonight, so I take my combat shirt off and toss it on my chair. Yang has been waiting patiently for weeks since she challenged my to a fight, and it was only earlier today that I decided to follow up on her offer.

I begin to do diamond pushups, getting up to 23...then I notice Blake sitting on her bed next to me, just watching. Her presence surprises me to the point where I tip over and fall flat on my back, looking up at her, my eyes bulging out of the sockets and my face being scarlet red. I slowly get to my feet, my heart racing and nearly in my throat,

"B-Blake...how long have you been...s-sitting here?" She sits there silent for a moment, focused on the scars on my chest, which no one has seen before.

"Blake..."

She looks up at me, "What really happened to you in the Army?"

I stand there for a moment, unsure of what to say.

*Sigh* "Do you remember when I said that I was 'imprisoned' by the White Fang?" She slowly nods, almost afraid to do so.

"Well...I – I, was also...t-tortured...severely, as you can see." She stands up and walks over to me, putting her hands on my chest and begins to feel my scars, while I wrap my arms around her lower back. Her soft, warm hands on my body makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up..

"They...d-did this to you?" Her eyes begin to tear up, and I wrap my arms around her to comfort her.

"Yes...unfortunately they did."

We lock eyes for a moment, not moving or uttering a word. I gently pull her in closer, and we begin to lean in to kiss. As we near each other, literally millimeters away...the bathroom door opens.

* * *

Weiss comes out of the bathroom and takes both us by surprise.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS?!" Weiss exclaims at the sight of Blake and I about to kiss, and me without a shirt on. '_Busted..._'

"Uh...I – Uh" is all that comes out of my mouth. '_Is that the best you can do Shane? COME ON!_'

As I try get the words out to explain myself, Weiss, just like Blake, takes notice of my scars and can't stop staring at them.

"Wha – what happened to you?" She asks, stuttering on her words.

'_Bloody hell_._ Now I have to repeat myself._'

"Take a seat, and I'll tell the both of you" as I gesture them to sit on Blake's bed. I sit down between them; Blake to my left, Weiss to my right.

"Alright...*Sigh* it all started when my unit was tasked with attacking a White Fang stronghold. We were sent there to clear it out to help maintain regional stability. Unfortunately...it didn't go to plan. They were waiting for us, and we were ambushed. My unit was wiped out within minutes, and I was the only one to survive. I was wounded from enemy gunfire, and I tried to use the radio to call for help, but...my superiors left me for dead. Within seconds, I found myself surrounded, so I surrendered. Then a White Fang member hit across the face with his rifle to knock me out – That's how I got these scars and my red eye" as I raise my hand, which is shaking, to the right side of my face.

At this point, my eyes are beginning to fill up with tears.

"T-they took me prisoner, and began to...t-torture me."

"What did they do?" Weiss asks.

"What didn't they do..." as I sit there, staring into space.

"Shane," Blake says as she and Weiss puts their hands on my leg, and I put mine on their hands, "you can tell us." A moment of silence follows.

"Well...they started off with interrogating me for hours at a time, and put me in solitary confinement, but that didn't work. Then they started to use more...severe methods. They deprived me of sleep, food, and water, and I nearly died as a result. Then they began to beat me, not just with their fists, but with weapons as well." By this point, tears are rolling down my face.

"T-then they decided to start cutting me...a-and...skin small sections of my body – That's how I got the rest of these scars. Sometimes when I look at them, I feel the pain I endured; The burning, the chill of cold steel cutting into me, and the blood, sweat and tears running down my body..." as I rub my chest.

By now, Blake has tears rolling down her face, and Weiss is beginning to tear up as well. '_I guess the Ice Queen has a soft side as well..._'

"I endured all this pain and suffering for over a month, until I was able to escape. I had to use my survival skills to make my way back to Vale, while avoiding recapture or death. To be honest...I would have rather died out in the woods than be recaptured. Even to this day, the memories still...haunt me."

Both girls reach in and give me a hug to comfort me as I wipe my tears away. "So...now you know. Now you know what I've been through. I'm not perfect...not by a long shot."

"None of us are," Blake says in a soft tone.

They both begin to express their sympathy for me, and it makes me realize that they really do care, and how lucky I am to call them my friends. I stand up, put my shirt on, and walk to the window,

"Look girls. I know all this information is difficult to process, but...please don't tell Yang and Ruby...not yet. Just wait until after the fight – I don't want Yang to go easy on me, and I'm worried of how Ruby will react. Nothing against Ruby, but she's still young, and I don't want to cause this to be an emotional burden on her." They both nod to acknowledge. Just then, Ruby and Yang enter.

"Hey guys!" Ruby says.

"So Shane, you ready for our fight?" Yang asks.

I pause for a moment, zoning out.

"Uh...Shane? You okay?"

I snap back into reality. I turn around to face them, "Oh, y-yeah, yeah. I'm good. Let's go."

* * *

We head downstairs and soon arrive at the sparing rings.

Yang and I enter the ring, while Weiss, Ruby, and Blake take a seat on a nearby bench to spectate.

Yang begins to load her gauntlets, "You ready for this?" as she gives me a smirk."

I remove my pistol from my holster and place it on a nearby table. I take my position, "Ready when you are, Blondie" as I get into a boxing stance.

"So, who goes first?" as she cracks her knuckles.

"Ladies first..." as I crack my neck. I made the decision to let her strike first, because my personal code is to not hit a woman, so her striking first will give me an excuse.

Yang starts off with running at me and throwing a punch, which I easily block. She then steps back and begins to hit me with kicks, but I continue to either evade or block. I decide enough is enough on being defensive and I soon take the fight to her. I start lobbing punches and kicks back at her. Eventually, we find ourselves in a dance of fake outs with our strikes. I soon unleash a barrage of strikes against her – Left hook, right hook, repeat, and as she tries to retaliate, I grab her hand and deliver a side kick to the ribs and release her hand as I land the strike. I end up forcing her back a short distance, but she still stands, smiling, and ready for more

"Jeez, you're tougher that you look!" She just gives me a smirk in response. That's the one things I find interesting about Yang – She always has a smile on her face when she fights.

She comes running at me trying to land a hit on me, but again, I strike her hard enough that she goes flying back. The problem – She rolls back, and fires her gauntlet in a way to propel herself at me and nails me right across the face with a punch. I scramble to my feet and prepare my next attack by drawing my baton and swinging down to extend it. Just as it locks into place,Yang suddenly stops where she is and lowers her guard.

"Come on Shane, let's kiss and call it a draw, okay?" I raise an eyebrow to her. '_There's no way I'm gonna fall this trick._'

"Hmm, okay..." as I collapse my baton and walk over to her. I begin to lean in to kiss her, making her think I'm falling for her trick.

Just as I'm within an inch or two of kissing Yang, she throws a punch at me, but I manage to catch it by grabbing her fist. I then take her arm and twist it as I flank her to the right, but release my grip as soon as I get behind her. I quickly throw my arm around her neck to put her in a headlock.

I tighten my grip in hopes of making her pass out, but she counters this by stomping on my toes, which hurt severely, with her leather platform boots, causing me to loosen my grip. I grunt in pain as she throws my arm over her head, turns around, and lobs a punch right into my chest, sending me flying back about 10 feet away from her. It's a good thing I'm wearing body armor, because that hit feels like it could have broken several ribs, if not all of them.

Just as I prepare to charge forward to retaliate, I look down and notice a small stand of blond hair stuck to my kevlar vest.

"What the– " as I pluck the hair off my vest to examine it, and soon realize who it's from...'_Oh no. Please don't be what I think it is..._'

I look up at Yang with widened eyes that meets her shocked expression, which quickly turns to anger. '_Ah crap..._' What scares me the most in this situation is the fact that her eyes turn from lilac to red just by blinking, and her hair starts to look like it's on fire.

'_I knew I was gonna regret this..._'

"You...you...AHHHHHH! I'M GONNA BREAK YOU!" she screams with fury as flames emit from her body. She starts to charge at me full speed.

'_This is gonna suck..._'

*BAM* Yang's fist connects with my chest, and I can feel the ceramic plate inside my vest shatter like a piece of glass as I go flying back and crash into a wall with a loud thud. I go out like a light.

* * *

Be sure to check out my friend "redjoker27."


	6. Chapter 6 - Night Terrors

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

I finally begin wake up after Yang knocking me out, and I realize that I've been out for several hours. I look out the window to see the sun is beginning to set, and find myself in the infirmary. A nurse comes in to check on me.

"Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Peachy, despite feeling like someone just hit me across the head with a sledgehammer."

"So just a headache?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. We ran some tests while you were out, and it says you don't have a concussion, so there's the bright side."

I begin to get out of bed, still a little off balance, "Yeah...I guess so." I pause for a moment. "Does that mean I'm good to go?" She nods. I then take my equipment that's laying on the table next to the bed, and head for the door. I thank her as I head out.

I begin to head for the dorm, but I decide to change course and head for the shooting range. It's been a while since I've had the chance to practice, and I probably need it. I enter the range to see no other students around, so I go to one of the ten firing lines. I set up three targets, side by side, and set them to a ten meter distance from where I stand. I decide to practice the "1-5 drill."

* * *

The 1-5 drill works like this; Three targets in front, positioned side by side. You draw your weapon and put one round into the left target, two in the middle, three in the right. Then start working your way back by putting four rounds into the middle target, and finishing off with five rounds in the left target. This is done as fast as possible while still maintaining control on your weapon and achieving the best accuracy possible.

* * *

I do the drill once, my time; 4.21 seconds. I do it again; 3.97. Again, 3.74. I repeat the drill over and over again until I finally achieve 3.01 seconds, currently my fastest time. Just as I prepare to do the drill again, I sense somebody watching me. I lay my pistol on the table and turn to see Professor Ozpin observing.

"Hmm...very impressive, Mr. Carbon."

"Thank you, sir."

"So, Mr. Carbon. I wanted to do a follow up on you. How are things going for you at this Academy?"

"Very good sir."

"Have you had any problems?"

"No, sir. Although I did have a minor altercation with Team CRDL on my second day."

"So I've heard." He takes a sip of his drink. "I understand that you uttered several threats towards Mr. Winchester and his team."

"Yes sir, but in my defe-" He raises his hand to silent me.

"But from what I also understand is that you did it to protect one of your peers. Ms. Scarlatina was being harassed, and you made the decision to intervene. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir. You are correct."

"Very well. I'll be sure to keep note of this and keep a close eye on Team CRDL. I appreciate that you were honest with me. If there's anymore problems, don't hesitate to inform me, and the proper punishment will be administered," as he begins to walk away.

"Will do, sir" I respond as he leaves and closes the door behind him. I go back to the firing line and do the 1-5 drill one last time before I head back to the dorm; 2.90. A new record. I unload my handgun, disassemble it, and quickly clean it up. After I'm finished, I reassemble and holster it. I head for the door, then make my way to the dorm room.

* * *

I arrive at the dorm room a short time later, just as the girls are getting into bed.

"Look who decided to finally wake up," Weiss says. I just give her a smirk in response.

"Shane, are you alright?" Blake asks with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. They said I don't have a concussion, but my head feels like I got hit with a sledgehammer. I appreciate your concern though." She starts to blush.

"Yeahhhh...sorry about that. I'm kinda protective of my hair. It's a force of habit." Yang says, as she rubs the back of her head. Obviously, she feels bad for what happened.

"Don't worry about it, Yang. At least I know now, so hopefully there won't be a next time."

"A-and...Blake and Weiss told Ruby and I about what happened to you; Y-you know...about The White Fang? I just wanted to say how sorry I am." She says as she comes up to me and gives me a hug.

"Me too." Ruby says as she does the same.

Yang looks at my vest with curiosity as Ruby hugs me. "Hey, what's that inside you're vest?" as she starts to poke the front portion.

"Huh?" I look down at the vest, and realize the ballistic plate shattered during the fight. "That's the ceramic plate you managed to shatter when you punched me and sent me flying into a wall."

"Oh...sorry about that." She starts to blush from embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," as I take my vest off and dump the pieces of the broken plate into the trash can. "Good thing I brought spares" as I reach into my duffel bag and pull a new plate out. I insert the plate, and throw the vest over the arm of my chair.

"Listen, girls, I really want to thank you for your sympathy. I'm very fortunate to be able to call the four of you my friends. I really am." Their faces begins to light up. I pause for a moment, "Just one thing, though; Can we... just put all this stuff about the White Fang behind us, please?" They all nod.

"Wait, what's all that black stuff on your face?" as Ruby points to me.

I wipe my face and some of it comes off on my hand, "Must be gunpowder. I decided to take a detour to the shooting range before I got here. Figured I'd brush up on my marksmanship."

"Jeez, you must have been shooting a lot for that to happen," Yang says.

"Yeah...it's one of my favorite hobbies." I begin to smile.

"Well, we're going to sleep now. Goodnight!" Ruby says as she tucks herself into bed, which is literally hanging from the ceiling by rope. I certainly don't trust the way it's set up.

We all then exchange good nights to each other, and the girls go to sleep. I go into the bath room to get washed up, and get changed into my sleep attire – Just a pair of black track pants with white stripes down the side of the legs, and my grandmother's wedding ring hanging from a chain around my neck. When I come out, I take a seat in my chair and read a book for a while until I'm at the brink of passing out, then I set the book aside, and go out like a light.

* * *

There's darkness and silence to begin with. Suddenly a light appears that becomes blinding, but I can't raise my hands to shield my eyes. I look down to find myself tied down in a chair. Soon, I see a silhouette moving towards me, and I call out to it, but it doesn't answer. It continues to approach me, and is soon close enough to where I can distinguish distinctive features: A black trench coat with red details, red hair, horns, and...a white mask with red designs. I recognize the person – Adam Taurus. He was the one responsible for overseeing my torture while I was in captivity, but now, for some reason, he's here in my dream. He just stands there for a moment...staring at me, and grinning. He then draws his sword, and positions it as though he has it to a hostage's throat...but no one is there.

Suddenly, Blake appears in his grasp, tears rolling down her face, and Adam's sword to her neck. I call out to her,

"Blake? What are you–"

My question is cut off as Blake suddenly becomes Weiss, then Yang seconds after, then Ruby, each transitioning to one of the four at random...but faster each time. Before I know it, the transitions are so fast that they become a blur of red, white, black, and yellow. Suddenly, it stops at Blake – And that's when Adam begins to cut her throat.

"Adam, don't! This has nothing to do with her!" I yell to him as I struggle to break free of my restraints. He begins to give a demonic laugh, as her blood and tears trickle down her body, and she cries out in pain to me,

"SHANE!"

"NO!" I yell just as I awaken, and I throw myself out of my chair. I stand in the middle of the room panting, drenched in sweat, and scarlet red all across my body. My heart is racing to the point where I think it's gonna explode. I begin to shiver from the mix of adrenaline pumping through my veins and the chill of cold sweat. The girls awaken and sit up to see what the commotion is. They begin to see the fear and panic in my facial expression. Blake slowly gets out of bed,

"Shane? What's wrong?"

I can't respond. For some reason, my mind won't allow me. Instead, I turn and slowly walk out the door with tears building up in my eyes.

"Shane? Where are you going?" she calls out to me as I enter the hallway, but I keep walking and head to the roof. Once there, I take a seat near the ledge and just stare out into the night sky, trying to clear my mind.

* * *

Minutes pass, and soon Blake comes out to the roof, still dressed in her sleep attire. '_Man, she is so beautiful._' She takes a seat next to me and rests her hand on my shoulder,

"Shane, what happened back there?" I remain silent. "Shane, please..."

I give a sigh, "I had a night terror..."

"A night terror?" She looks at me with curiosity.

"It's...it's hard to explain. The best way I can put it is when you wake up from a nightmare that was so bad, that you...panic and scream.

"Has this happened to you before?"

"No...t-this is the first time. The only reason I know anything about it is because I've done some research on it before."

"Do you know what causes it?" she asks.

"Yeah...post traumatic stress disorder."

"What's that?" I let out a sigh in response, before providing an explanation.

"It's an anxiety disorder that people can develop after exposure to a...traumatic event."

"So...y-you have that...d-disorder?"

"Yeah." I begin to bow my head in shame.

From there, we begin to sit in silence, just staring at the night sky.

* * *

Minutes pass before Blake breaks the silence.

"So...what happened in your dream?" I give a brief pause before I respond,

"I – I, it...you...you were harmed, and I couldn't do anything to save you. All I could do was sit there and watch...him...harm you."

"Who?" I remain silent for a moment. "Shane, who was harming me?"

"It was the man that oversaw my torture when I was imprisoned...Adam Taurus. "

She freezes in place, just staring at me with widened eyes. I look ahead towards the night sky. Blake and I sit there in complete silence once again. Only the sound of crickets fill the cool night air. I finally look to her and break the silence.

"Blake, I-uh...I've been wanting to ask you a question for quite some time." She looks to me, with curiosity in her bright amber eyes. They begin to sparkle like the stars above us.

"Are you...a Faunus?" Her eyes begin to widen. "Because one time when we were in Grimm Studies, I saw your bow twitch, and I've also seen it when you're sleeping. I have yet to see you even take your bow off, which I find quite...odd." She sits there in silence. "I've wanted to ask you this since the night we met, because you also seem to get very...emotional when we talk about the White Fang or the Faunus race."

She lets out a sigh. Tears start to build up as she reaches up and undoes her bow, gritting her teeth in pain as she does so. As the bow comes off, she reveals violet colored cat ears. She then rests her hands on her thighs, bow in hand. I look at her in amazement.

"Yes...it's true. I'm a Faunus." She begins to break down in tears.

"Blake, what's wrong?" I put my arm around her to comfort her.

"It's...it's just that all my life I've been subjected to discrimination and hate because of this" as she points to her ears. Quite frankly, I don't see anything wrong with her having cat ears. As a matter of fact, I think she looks even more beautiful with them.

She's silent for a moment. "Please, don't hate me for saying this – I know how much you hate them, but...I was once a member of the White Fang."

I look at her with shock. "You? You were a member of the White Fang?"

"That's right...I was a member for most of my life, actually."

"Does that mean you...knew Adam?"

"Yes...he was my mentor." She bows her head in shame.

I look to her, "Blake, I'm gonna ask you one question, and all I want is for you to answer truthfully - Are you still affiliated with the White Fang?"

She looks up at me to where our eyes meet. "No. Not anymore. I left long before I ever came to Beacon." Tears continue to roll down her cheeks. "I was tired of using my skills to aid in their violence...so I left." I see it in her eyes – She's being truthful.

"Well–" I rest on hand on hers and the other on her cheek. I begin to use my thumb to wipe away her tears, "–I still think you're the smartest, most beautiful girl I have ever met, and I am absolutely blessed to have someone as special as you in my life."

She looks up at me, her eyes beginning to sparkle, "R-really? Even after keeping this secret from you? Even though–? Y-you still think I'm...b-beautiful?"

We stare at each other for a moment, lost for words. We close our eyes, and begin to slowly lean in to kiss.

*BOOM!* Suddenly, an explosion erupts outside the school's perimeter, interrupting the second attempt at a kiss. '_CRAP! So close...AGAIN!_'

We look towards the origin of the sound. "Oh no", I say as we witness smoke beginning to rise over the school.

Beacon Academy is under attack.

* * *

I just want to take a moment to thank everybody for their support in this story. You're reviews and positive feedback are truly appreciated, and are what inspire me to continue this series. It's truly an honor to be able to bring entertainment to each of you, regardless of where you are in the world, both far and near. Every time I look at the traffic graph, I am amazed to see the list of nations which have read my story; Many of those include my fellow Canadians, the USA, Ireland, Romania, Australia, the UK, and many other great nations. Again, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your support, and I look forward to keeping you entertained in the time to come.

Kindest regards,

-S

P.S. - If you could take a moment out of your time to check out my good friend "redjoker27," that would be greatly appreciated! Also worth noting, this is NOT the end of the RWBY: Carbon series, so look forward to another chapter next week. Until then, farewell...


	7. Chapter 7 - The Assault

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

Explosions begin to echo throughout the campus, as Blake and I run back to the dorm room to regroup with the rest of the team. As we enter, we're greeted with Ruby, Yang, and Weiss taking aim at us with their weapons.

"Whoa, Friendly!" I call out.

"Shane, what's happening?!" Ruby urgently asks.

"The school's under attack."

"Attack?! Who would be stupid enough to attack us?" Weiss asks.

"Give me a sec and I'll find out" as I reach for my duffel bag, unzip it, and pull out Bangalore, then move to the window. I begin to searching for movement, and soon find several assault teams in black uniforms with silver armor and masks, assaulting to main building. I continue to watch until one of the members turns his back towards me so I can see the insignia – White Fang. I begin to cringe at the sight of the symbol.

"Looks like it's the White Fang..."

"It can't be! Why would they be attacking us?!" Blake says.

"That's not important right now. What's important is right now getting to safety." Blake and I quickly get changed into our combat attire.

"Alright team, stay close." as I head for the door. The girls hesitate, but soon follow. I quickly run across the hall and inform JNPR of what's happening, and they decide to follow us.

* * *

We begin maneuver through the halls of the dorm and out to the adjacent building where the locker room is located. As we enter the building, we see that the walls are riddled with bullets. As we maneuver a corner, I gesture everybody to freeze. We wait for a moment in silence, and I begin to hear the sounds of sobbing coming from a room up ahead, on the right side. I gesture to move forward and stack up on the door. RWBYS on the left side of the door, while JNPR on the right. I whisper to Pyrrah, who's the first in JNPR's line, followed by Ren, Nora, and finally Jaune,

"I'll head in first, then you come in right after me, Yang after you, then, Ren, and so on. Got it?" They all nod.

I check and make sure Bangalore is loaded – One Breaching round in the center barrel, and two slugs on the sides. I take my position, take a deep breath, take aim at the door nob, and shoot. *BANG* The breaching round blows the lock off the door, and I kick it in. My adrenaline begins to pump through my veins as I enter the darkened room, and I quickly flip on the light switch,

"DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!" I yell, and I hear a woman's cry of fear in response. As the rest of RWBYS and JNPR enter, I move farther into the room, and I soon come across Velvet, who is huddled in a corner, frozen in fear.

"We're clear!" I call out.

"Velvet..." I hold my hand out to her to help her up.

"S-Shane? What's happening?" as she wipes her tears, takes my hand, and I help her to her feet.

"The White Fang's attacking Beacon. We don't know why, but right now, we're heading to the locker room. Come with us." as I gesture everybody else to move out. Just as I do so, I hear voices and foot steps coming from outside in the hallway.

"Crap...hide, now!" I whisper with urgency. Everybody quickly dives into cover as I turn the lights off, and I position myself to the side of the door, but out of sight. I quietly sling Bangalore over my back.

I hear a couple of soldiers pass by the door way. Just as a few more walk by, they stop.

"You...make sure that room's clear..." one soldier says with an aggressive tone.

"T-there?" a young voice responds, seeming afraid or unsure of what to do.

"What's the matter? Scared of the dark or something?"

"N-no..."

"Good, then get in there and clear it out!" The first voice growls in response. "We'll be around the corner if you run into any trouble."

I begin to hear some of the soldiers walk away. Not a moment sooner do I start to see the shadow of the lone soldier begin to enter the room. I quickly activate my semblance to avoid being seen, otherwise the Faunus would spot me with his natural ability to see in the dark. Soon, the solider itself appears in the door way. It's hard to tell with him wearing a mask, and the poor lighting condition, but by the sound of his voice, and the fear I can see in him, the guy seems to be quite young for this line of work. As he walks about five feet into the room, I sneak up behind him and put my right hand over his mouth to keep him silent, as I deactivate my semblance and use my other hand to rip his rifle out his hand. As I throw the rifle away from us, I draw my pistol, which has a built in suppressor, and put it up to the side of his head.

"Easy friend." I whisper to him, "You're not a bad guy. You're just following orders. I don't want to kill you for that..." I holster my pistol, and calmly move him over to one of the far corners in the room. "Shh...just relax–" as I put him in a headlock, "–When you wake up, the worst you're gonna have is a nasty headache." Within seconds, the young soldier passes out, and I gently rest him against the wall. I put my hand on his shoulder, "Rest easy..."

I look over to my team and JNPR, who are watching me from their hiding spots, "Alright, let's go. Stay close, and stay quite." One by one, we exit the room and head for the locker room. As we begin to walk, Blake comes up behind me and whispers to me,

"That was amazing what you did back there..."

"What, about the White Fang soldier?"

"Yeah. That was really...touching. I didn't expect you to show mercy, especially after...your past with the White Fang."

I look back to her to meet eye to eye, "I might not be a saint, but I'm certainly not a sadist..."

"I know...that's what I admire about you."

* * *

A short time later, we finally arrive at our destination, having a couple more close encounters with White Fang assault teams, but we remain undetected. We enter the locker room and quickly barricade the door to buy us some time.

"Why are we stopping here? We can't stay here." Pyrrah says.

As I look around the room, "I've got a plan. Everybody, get in your lockers!" They begin to look at me like I'm a madman. "You gotta trust me." They all reluctantly do so, and one by one, I close each door, type in a six digit code and launch their lockers out and away from the school. I make my way down the line, until I get to Blake's locker, the final one.

"What about you?" Blake asks with fear and concern in her voice.

"I can't launch myself since the keypad's on the outside of the locker."

"Then I'm not leaving you!" she protests.

"I'm sorry, but I have no other option." I reach for a piece of paper in my pocket, and write down a series of numbers and hand the paper to her.

"What's this for?"

"I know a guy that lives in the Industrial District. His name's Donovan Hollis – an old friend of mine. I want you to go to the Police Precinct in that district, find him, and give him this. He'll understand what it means and will help you."

"But, Shane I can't– " I rest my hand on her cheek.

"Yes, you can. You have to be strong; not just for our team, but I need you to be strong for me." I then lean in and passionately kiss her for several seconds before pulling away. '_Finally – A kiss without any interruptions!_'

"Blake, if I don't make it–" I give her one last kiss, gently push her into the locker and close the door, "–don't let my death be in vain," and I type the code in to launch her locker towards Forever Fall, like I did for the others. The rocket begins to fire up.

"SHANE! NOOOOOOO!" Blake yells as she's launched into the night sky.

After a moment, I draw my pistol, and make sure that there's a round in the chamber, then holster it. I remove Bangalore from it's sling, and take a seat on a nearby bench. I just sit there, lying in wait, and I begin to recite a prayer;

'_Lord, make me fast and accurate. Let my aim be true and my hand faster than those who seek to destroy me. Grant me victory over my foes and those that wish to do harm to me and mine; and Lord if today is truly the day that you call me home, let me die in a pile of brass._'

* * *

Within seconds, I hear the voices of White Fang soldiers right outside the door on the other end of the locker room. I stand up and take aim with my rifle.

*BOOM* A breaching charge detonates and smoke fills the room. White Fang soldiers begin to pour in through the door. I advance forward and open fire, tearing through all the ammo for my shotgun, as I shoot and slash my way through the first wave. As the second wave enters the room, I throw my shotgun to the ground, draw my pistol, and continue to spray lead down range.

Just as my pistol runs dry, I holster it, draw my baton, and begin fighting with it. I swing in every direction, striking soldiers in the arms, legs, chest, and even the head, all while hearing the cracking of bones shattering, and the screams of wounded and dying soldiers.

At one point, I take a swing and strike a soldier right across his mask, shattering it and spraying his blood across the floor and his comrades. I soon find myself disarmed, so I activate my aura to act as a shield, and begin to fight with my bare hands, similar to how I fought the Beowolf in Professor Port's class.

After at least a minute of continuous combat, I'm finally overwhelmed. I'm shot several times – one in the shoulder, and at least three in the vest, but the three don't penetrate. I'm knocked off balance from the impacts, and crash to the floor. Even when I'm finally down, the soldiers begin to brutally beat me by kicking and punching me, or bashing me with their weapons.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps, very distinct ones, like someone wearing shoes made of glass,

"That's enough," a woman's voice calls out.

The soldiers stop, and back away, feeling intimidated by the woman's presence. She walks up and kneels down next to me. She has black hair, glowing eyes, a dark red dress with yellow details, a crystal anklet, and as I had guessed – glass high-heels.

"Hmm, you and I are gonna have some fun..." she says amidst her laughter, and I soon pass out.

* * *

*Note: I want to give a shout out to "Ranger Up" for their T-shirt design that inspired me to add the prayer to this chapter.

If you could take a moment out of your time to check out my good friend "redjoker27," that would be greatly appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8 - Redemption

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

Several hours later, I awaken. The sun begins to rise. My vision is severely blurred, and my shoulder burns – I know right away that I've been shot. As my vision begins to clear, I look around; I'm in Ozpin's office, and I look to both sides to find Ozpin and Port to my left, while Goodwitch and Oobleck to my right, all of them are restrained. I try to move, grunting as I do so, only to discover that my hands are bound and behind my back, like the staff. '_Feels like zip-tie handcuffs._' I let out a sigh.

Just then, the door to my left opens...and my worst nightmare enters the room; Adam Taurus. He looks to the five 'hostages', but primarily focuses on me.

"You again? I've should have killed you when I had the chance." as he walks towards me and kneels down in front of me. "Now look at you, trapped like a rat...again." I spit in his face in response. He retaliates by drawing his sword and puts it up to my neck. I close my eyes, preparing to die.

"Stop! We need him alive." a woman says, causing Adam to freeze in place. The woman soon appears from the shadows – the one from the locker room. Adam then sheaths his sword and backs away.

"I'm glad to see you're finally awake" she says as she approaches me.

"W-who are you?"

"Her name is Cinder Fall." Ozpin suddenly speaks.

Cinder laughs, "So glad that you remembered me after all this time."

"How could I not, especially when you went rogue. You became corrupt and craved for more power." She just laughs in response.

* * *

The door opens yet again, but this time, a guy with bright orange hair, wearing a black bowler hat, and a white suit enters with two more people; a woman and a guy. The woman having tanned skin & red eyes, wearing tan & green attire. The guy, purple hair and a gray jacket.

"What you started without us?" the orange hair guy asked sarcastically.

"Not at all, Roman, we were just getting started" Cinder says.

All of the sudden, an explosion causes the whole room to shake. Gunfire and additional explosions begin to follow after. '_Yes, they're here!_' I think to myself. I know for a fact that the team went to my contact and got help, but right now I need to help the staff, and myself.

"Adam, get down to the Ball Room and find out what's happening!" Cinder demands. He gives a nod and rushes out the door. Only four targets; '_Five on four, we can take them_', but we still need to deal with the restraints.

Cinder, Roman, and the other two move to the windows to observe what's going on outside. This is the distraction I needed. I gesture the staff to move their legs to make contact with each other and form a human chain. I begin to focus my aura on everybody's restraints, causing them to expand and become loose enough for us to free ourselves. I then put my finger up to my mouth to hush them as I slowly stand up and activate my semblance to go invisible, while the staff kept their hands behind their backs.

Roman is the first to look in our direction, with shock.

"What the- where'd the other one go!" he demands as he aims his cane at the staff, and the bottom of the cane flips up to form a targeting sight. I take him by surprise yelling out,

"GUN!" I strike him on the nerve below he elbow, causing him to drop his weapon. "NOW!" as I grab the back of Roman's head with one hand, and throw the staff their weapons with my other hand. The staff jump to their feet and begin to attack the other enemies as I take Roman and bash his head against the edge of Ozpin's desk several times, knocking him unconscious.

"You deal with these guys, I'm going after Taurus!" I yell as I grab my pistol and two magazines from the desk, then bolt towards the door. I suddenly have to stop as the doorway becomes engulfed in flames. I look back to see it's Cinder's handy work, as she begins to laugh. I merely smirk at her and continue to run at the inferno, diving through into the hallway. As I stand up, I notice the lower part of my pant leg is on fire, so I quickly pat it out.

I load my pistol with a magazine, and stuff the spare one in my pocket. After that, I begin to rush through the hallway, and make my way down the stairs – No enemies in sight. I don't know whether to consider that as a good thing or a bad thing. I stop for a moment to catch my breath and check my bearings. I reach up to check my shoulder – still bleeding, but just barely. I think to myself about what my next move is; _'Ball Room. He was heading for the Ball Room_'

* * *

I begin to quietly maneuver through the battered hallways, where the walls are riddled with bullets, and several pillars are set ablaze. I head for the Ball Room, hearing sporadic gunfire and explosions, both far and near, as I move. I eventually get to the door, and stack up. I begin to hear voices on the other side, at least three of them.

"Has anybody found Blake yet?" I know that has to be Adam, but I freeze in place when he mentions Blake's name. '_Why is he looking for her?_'

"Negative, sir. We're still looking though."

Adam growls in response, "When I find her, she's gonna regret ever abandoning me..." That answers my question. '_He's out for vengeance and blood. I have to stop him before he can harm her...'_

I ready my pistol, and after taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, then I kick the door in. I take him and two White Fang soldiers by surprise. Before they have time to reach for their weapons, I open fire. Using the 1-5 drill, I multiple rounds into each of them in a matter of seconds, resulting in them hitting the floor like bags full of bricks; The two soldiers are dead before they even hit the floor; one soldier is riddled with six bullets, while the other soldier with only three.

I quickly draw my spare magazine and reload, shut the door behind me, then proceed further into the room to find Adam still alive and attempting to crawl away from me and towards his weapon, all while coughing up his own blood. I managed to hit him six times, all center mass. I begin to walk along side him,

"You know something Taurus? For most of my life, all I ever did was kill. I killed for my Kingdom,"

*BANG* I shoot him in the left knee,

"I killed for my family,"

*BANG* I shoot him in the other knee,

"I killed for my friends,"

*BANG* I shoot him in the left elbow,

"I even killed to protect the woman I love – Blake...Belladonna..."

*BANG* The other elbow

"But this one–" I kneel down next to him and look him in the eye, "–this one's for me."

I stand and take aim at his head, and he looks up at me,

"Go" *Cough* "To he–"

*BANG*

The echo of the shot rings through the Ball Room. The smell of gunpowder and death is almost overwhelming. I slowly holster my pistol as I walk over to the nearest wall, lean my back against it, and slide down to sit. I sit there for a moment, letting everything that just happened sink in.

"You've finally been avenged, Shadow Team" I whisper as I look up to the skylight, to see the sun beginning to rise. I have finally avenged my fallen comrades, who I lost during the attack on the White Fang Stronghold.

* * *

Suddenly, I hear voices and footsteps just outside the door I had entered,

"Stack up on the door!" a muffled voice yells out.

'_I guess this is the end,_' I think to myself. I figure it's a White Fang squad that will shoot me on sight, and there's no other way out of the ballroom, so I decide to just continue to stay where I am and conclude my mind, preparing for the inevitable.

"Crash it," and the doors are blown open with a breaching charge. Four silhouettes enter the room in the blink of an eye,

"BLUE–BLUE–BLUE–BLUE–BLUE!" one shouts out, while aiming his rifle at me. '_That's definitely not the White Fang..._'

"Blue–Blue" I call out as I raise my hands.

As the smoke begins to clear, I see the four men, each dressed in dark blue uniforms and black tactical vests, with balaclavas to conceal their identities. I look at them to see the badge on their shoulders – The Vale Police Force's Tactical Team.

"Shane?" The squad leader says, looking at me as he removes his mask. I see a man with with white spiked hair, and gray eyes. I know that face well – It's Donovan Hollis, my contact in the Police Force. He's the guy I sent Blake and the others to speak to.

"Still alive, eh?"

"Yeah, looks like it, Donnie boy" I say as he offers me a hand and pulls me to my feet.

"I was quite skeptical when she told me."

"Who told you what?"

"That lady friend of yours, Blake. She came to the precinct and told me that you were still alive after all this time, and that you needed my help. She's mighty fine looking, by the way." he nudges me with his arm.

"Hey, don't get any ideas, mate. She's mine." I say jokingly, but with some seriousness in my tone as well. He responds by just giving me a pat on the back.

"It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back." I pause for a moment. "Where is she?"

"Come on, I'll take you to her," as we head for the door...or what's left of it, anyways.

He reaches for his radio, "Command, this is 1-3, the Ball Room is secured. Status Report: Three E-KIA, one CAT Alpha, we're on our way out, over."

"Roger that 1-3, keep us posted, out."

"You three," he looks back to the other officers, "Lock this area down and start cleaning up this mess."

"Will do, Sergeant." one of the officers responds.

* * *

*NOTE: If you could take a moment out of your time to check out my good friend "redjoker27," that would be greatly appreciated! Be prepared for an upcoming crossover with his story, "Genesis III Project." Him and I have been working diligently in order to prepare for this, so stay tuned for more to come from the both of us!

Also worth noting, "The Assassin's Mentor" is requesting OC ideas for his story, "Ghosts of Remnant: United Offensive," which is a RWBY and Call of Duty: Ghosts crossover. I'd appreciate it if you could check him out and lend a helping hand with ideas of OCs to add to the story. More information will be at the end of Chapter 4 in his story.

Other than that, that's all for this week. I look forward to posting the next chapter next week. Until then, farewell...


	9. Chapter 9 - Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

* * *

Donovan and I walk through the halls out to the courtyard, where there are countless soldiers and police officers scattered around, either tending to the wounded, standing guard, or rounding up White Fang members that have been captured. As we make our way through the crowd, a medic stops me to tend to my gunshot wound, which is still bleeding, but very minimal,

"I'm fine, just give me some gauze," I say. He quickly digs into his medical kit and pulls out a package of gauze and hands it to me. "Thanks" I say as I rip open the package and apply the cloth into the wound.

I continue forward and soon see RWBYS, JNPR, and Velvet debriefing with the staff. Seeing as the staff is still alive, I guess we won. As I get closer, I look over to see Cinder and her two two accomplices being dragged away in restraints by several soldiers.

As I approach my team, Blake is the first to look in my direction. She freezes for a moment before shouting out my name and starting to run towards me with tears rolling down her face.

"Go get her, brotha." Donovan says as he gives me a push, as I begin to run to her.

Within seconds, we're in arms reach and she jumps into my arms, and we hold each other in a firm hug, not wanting to let go of each other. She cries for a while before we release each others embrace.

"I though you were dead." she say's as she looks at me, her eye's red from crying.

"I can't outrun death forever–" as I wrap one of my arms around her lower back, and my other hand on her cheek, "–but I'm making him work for it." I say as pull her in and kiss her with a deep passion.

"YEAH! Get some, bro!" Donovan yells to me as everybody around us stops what their doing and begin to cheer. The rest of the team walks up to us, and there's a moment of silence.

"Yeah! Team RWBYS is back together! " Ruby cheers to break the silence.

All five of us then look over to see Roman being dragged away by a couple of police officers. He face is severely bruised and bloody. I'll be honest, it looks like somebody tried to f**k start his head with a cheese grater.

"Looks like they finally caught that Torchwick guy" Ruby says.

"Yeah, but what happened to him?" Blake asks.

"Yeah, it looks like he got hit by a bus." Weiss says.

"Oh, him? He uh...tripped and fell. The poor guy hit his head pretty hard...About five or six times..."

"That was you, wasn't it?" Blake says as she gives me a look, knowing damn well it was me.

"Yeah..." I just bow my head.

"Yikes, and I thought I got angry." Yang says, jokingly. Everybody begins to laugh.

* * *

A short time later, we notice Adam's body being carried away on a gurney, and Blake is the first to take notice,

"Adam?" I look over as well. "Wha...What happened to him?" as she begins to cry.

"I'm sorry, Blake...I had no other choice."

"You...you killed him?"

"...Yes, I did. I heard him say that he was looking for you...and he was gonna make you pay for...abandoning him."

"Really?"

I look up to her, "Yes. I had to do it...to protect you." She then leaps into my arms and gives me a firm hug.

"Thank you" she whispers. I just respond by holding her tighter.

A short time later, I decide to call Donovan over.

"Hey Donnie, get over here!" as I wave to him.

I look over to Blake, "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Alright..." as she wipes a tear away.

I start walking towards Velvet with Donovan in tow.

"Hey Velvet, I've got someone for you to meet. This is Donovan, an old friend of mine. He's a Sergeant with the Vale Police Force." I look over to Don, "Donovan, Velvet." I just leave the two of them to talk. As I walk back to the team, I turn back and look, '_Eh, they look like they'd make a cute couple. It's the least I can do for him, since he helped us save the school._'

"What do we do now?" Ruby asks.

"How about this, you three head into town and do some shopping, while Blake and I head to to the hospital to get this bullet taken out of my shoulder." We all come to an agreement, and go our separate ways.

* * *

Blake and I soon arrive at the hospital. They take me into the surgery room and remove the bullet, but I tell them to keep me awake during the process, because I want to get back to Blake as soon as I can. After the bullet is removed, they patch me up and put my right arm in a sling. A nurse escorts me back to Blake, who's waiting in my assigned room, and tells us just to wait until the doctor gives me clearance to be discharged, and that she'll be back soon with some medication to help ease the pain.

Both of us decide to stand around instead of sitting, but Blake stands there...staring at me. As the nurse leaves, Blake begins to bite her lower lip, then grabs the curtains and closes them behind her.

"B-Blake? What are you doing?" My face is starting to go red.

"Shh, just relax" as she walks towards me, unbuttoning her vest. My heart rate is beginning to go up. She then comes into arms reach and begins to kiss and gently nip my neck, all while purring – I would be the worst liar to ever live if I say I don't enjoy it.

She then backs away from me and begins to lift her white undershirt, exposing her bra – Black to match the rest of her attire.

"Blake, the nurse will be back soon with medication for the pain. I–"

"Shh," as she puts her finger to my mouth, then whispers into my ear, "I'll be your medication." She then takes a seat on the edge of the bed, gesturing me to come closer I close the gap, and by now, I know there's no turning back – I lean in and begin to kiss her. My arm wrap my left arm around her at her lower back, while her one hand is behind my head, holding me in for the kiss, and the other on my shoulder...the one that doesn't have a hole the size of a golf ball in it.

She after holding the kiss for a moment, she breaks off the kiss and orders me to lay the bed, and I do as I'm told. She gets on top of me and we continue to make out. Her tongue enters my mouth and begins to gently massage mine; Soon I return the favor. I hold her close, not wanting to let go of her. My mind begins to go into meltdown from the pleasure. Soon the fun has to end, because Blake's bow begins to twitch – I know she hears the Nurse approaching. She quickly jumps off the bed, pulls her shirt down and buttons up her vest, just in the nick of time as the Nurse enters the room and pulls the curtains open.

"Here's your painkillers, Mr. Carbon." the Nurse says as she hands a bottle of pills to me.

"Thank you very much. So, uh...has the Doctor said whether or not I'm good to go?"

"Yup! You're free to go."

I begin to stand up, "Perfect, thanks for your help. By the way, how long will I need to wear this sling?" I ask with curiosity.

"From the looks of it, and because of the amount of aura you have...a couple of days, give or take."

"Alright, thanks again!" Blake and I leave the room and head out.

When Blake and I exit the front doors of the hospital and into the streets, she looks over to me,

"So what do you wanna do now?" Blake asks as she bites her lower lip.

"Wanna go back to the dorm room?" She responds by grabbing my hand and we run back to Beacon.

* * *

We storm through the door, and find that the girls are still out shopping.

"Perfect..." Blake says seductively as she pushes me on the bed, undresses herself and removes her bow, then throws herself on top of me. _'I swear, she must be in heat right now!'_

"Now...where were we?" as she licks her lips and leans in to kiss me once again, but this time, she's only in her underwear. I soon find myself stripped down to my boxers – Camouflaged ones...figures.

For the rest of it, I'll leave it up to you sickos to use your imagination! God knows what probably goes on in the heads of some of you guys/gals.

* * *

After all the fun ends, which is the best thing to ever happen in my life, I find myself in Blake's bed. The love of my life – A beautiful Faunus girl, is laying next to me with her head on my left shoulder and one hand on my chest, sound asleep. I take my left arm and hold her close. I can feel her beginning to purr, and it makes me feel calm and at ease.

I lay there in in silence, thinking to myself, '_Man, I love this school. The next four years are gonna be the best!_' I look over to Blake to see one of her cat ears twitch, and all I can do is smile at how adorable she is when she does that. I slowly start to doze off from being so relaxed...

Suddenly, I hear the door begin to open...'_Oh no. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!_' I think to myself in a state of panic. Weiss, Yang, and Ruby come walking in the room, with shopping bags in hand.

"I wonder how long their gonna be at the hos-" Weiss' sentence being cut off at the sight of Blake and I in bed together...naked, but thank God we're both under the covers.

"WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD. IS. THIS?!"

My face goes scarlet red as Blake awakens to the Ice Queen's yelling. She too freezes in place and goes just as red as me...if not more.

"Oh, ho...caught the two love birds in the act, didn't we?" Yang sarcastically says with a grin on her face. God knows what's probably going through her head right now...

"Uh, what are you guys doing?" Ruby asks with a confused expression on her face. The poor girl probably doesn't even know what sex is yet!

'_Ah bloody hell...on second thought – It's gonna be a long four years..._' I think to myself as let out a groan and sink into the pillow, embarrassed beyond belief.

* * *

*NOTE: If you could take a moment out of your time to check out my good friend "redjoker27," that would be greatly appreciated! Be prepared for an upcoming crossover with his story, "Genesis III Project." Him and I have been working diligently in order to prepare for this, so stay tuned for more to come from the both of us!

Also worth noting, "The Assassin's Mentor" is requesting OC ideas for his story, "Ghosts of Remnant: United Offensive," which is a RWBY and Call of Duty: Ghosts crossover. I'd appreciate it if you could check him out and lend a helping hand with ideas of OCs to add to the story. More information will be at the end of Chapter 4 in his story.

Other than that, that's all for this week. I look forward to posting the next chapter next week. Until then, farewell...


	10. Chapter 10 - Taken

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

Also, before we begin Chapter 10, I'd like to announce that I've decided to do a Questions and Answers part at the end of the Carbon series. Since you (the reader) have been so supportive of my work, and helped the story hit the 3000 view mark, I'm offering you the opportunity to ask me anything about the story, me, future stories, etc. Other than that, leave your questions (no limit per person) in the reviews section or you can send them to me in a private message. I'll make sure to answer all of them once the series is complete.

With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

It's only been about four days since the attack on Beacon Academy, and the school has already been repaired for the most part, despite the fact that many of the students are still shaken up from the incident. Two days ago, I had my stitches removed for the gunshot wound that I sustained in the attack, so my arm doesn't require a sling any longer. Of course, things have been somewhat awkward since that day after Ruby, Weiss, and Yang walked in Blake and I...in bed with each other. Other than that, everything seems to be getting back to normal.

Just after we're dismissed from class for the day, the team is called to Professor Ozpin's office for a mission briefing. We meet each other just outside the office, and I open the door to allow my team to enter before me. Blake and I smile to each other as she goes through the door. As I enter, Ozpin gestures the five of us to take a seat.

"I'm glad you made it. I have mission for you."

"Let's hear it, sir." I say with excitement. I'm eager to get back out in the field.

"Team RWBYS will be sent to the western end of the Emerald Forest to clear out a cave network that is infested with various types of Grimm." Ozpin instructs us.

"What about Jaune's team, Professor?" Ruby asks.

"I've already briefed them on their mission. They are being deployed to the eastern end to clear out a cave network similar to yours. It's possible that both networks may be connected."

"So basically, our mission is search and destroy; Find anything that's a Grimm and eradicate it?" I ask.

"Yes"

"Consider it done, Professor." Ruby replies with confidence. A moment later, Ozpin dismisses us.

We head back to the dorm to prepare ourselves for the mission. I take a seat and begin to load my pistol with subsonic ammo, and load Bangalore with a special kind of ammunition – A hybrid of flechette and dragon's breath ammo. Shortly after, I sharpen Bangalore's blades, and wipe down my baton. Ruby begins loading magazines for her scythe, while Weiss polishes her sword, Blake sharpens her katana, and Yang loads her gauntlets. When everybody is done, we head out towards the Emerald Forest.

* * *

It takes us about an hour, but we finally enter the forest. The cloudy skies and fog within the forest hinder our visibility. The soggy ground also contributes to the...not so favorable weather conditions for this mission, but like being in the army, you have to follow orders, regardless of the weather. We begin to cautiously maneuver the forest in a single file line – Me being the point man, followed by Blake, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss. We walk in silence so we can hear any Grimm that dare to approach. Eventually, we come to the edge of a clearing, and my military instincts begin to kick in. '_This is the perfect place for an ambush._' I think to myself as I raise my hand, and everybody stops dead in their tracks, then I gesture them to gather around me,

"I'm willing to bet you 10 Lien that we're about to walk into an ambush..."

"Oh, you're so on" Yang says with a smirk. The rest nod to acknowledge.

From there, we emerge from the treeline into the clearing while maintaining a diamond formation, with me in front, Ruby in the center, Yang and Blake covering the left and right flank respectively, and Weiss covering our six.

Within a moment of being in the clearing, I hear the sounds of leafs rustling and twigs snapping directly in front of me. Just as I take aim with Bangalore, an Ursa Major comes charging out from the treeline and rips through the fog. As it begins to lunge towards me, I quickly flip the selector switch to 'All.'

"CONTACT!" I yell at the top of my lungs as I pull the trigger.

*BANG* The shot blows a large flaming hole clean through the Ursa Major's chest, killing it instantly. I roll to the side to dodge the corpse as it comes crashing to the ground with a loud thud and causes the ground to shake. I turn to face my team and find them already engaged with other Grimm. Blake and Yang attacking a Death Stalker, while Ruby and Weiss are attacking a King Taijitu.

I decide to assist Weiss and Ruby since they're closest to me. I quickly load more ammo for Bangalore, and I charge forward. At the last minute, I notice that the girls are fighting the black half of the King Taijitu. Not a moment sooner, the white half lunges at me from my left side, just outside of my peripheral vision and manages to swallow me whole. I hear the girls cry out to me, but by now, I'm completely inside the large snake. The darkness overwhelms me for a moment, before I can recover my senses.

When the opportunity presents itself, I flip the selector switch on Bangalore to 'Semi,' and take a shot. *BANG* I blast a hole into the side of the King Taijitu, and I crawl out. Just as I get to my feet, I find myself on the Taijitu's back, so I run up towards the white half's head, slashing away with Bangalore's blades as I go. When I get to the head, I jam my gun into the top of it and pull the trigger twice. *BANG*...*BANG*

The white half hisses in defeat and comes crashing to the ground. Just as I lean over to catch my breath, the head is yanked out from under my feet and I do a front flip, followed by a face plant into the mud. As I look up and wipe the mud from my face, I see the black half of the King Taijitu fleeing, with it's dead white counterpart in tow. I notice the Death Stalker beginning to flee as well as I stumble to my feet, but Yang continues a relentless assault against it until it disappears into the tree line. '_That's weird, Grimm don't usually retreat..._' After a brief moment of silence, I quickly reload, then call out to the girls,

"Everybody okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good!" Yang calls out as she reloads her gauntlets.

"Weiss and I are alright" Ruby yells out.

"Blake, you good?" I ask. Nothing but silence for a few seconds. "Blake?" I yell out, looking around the clearing. "Blake? Where you at, baby girl?!" I fire a shot into the air. "BLAKE?!" I look over to see her weapon, Gambol Shroud laying on the ground near the tree line. '_Oh no..._'

I scream out her name again as I charge into the treeline.

"Shane, wait! Come back!" I hear Ruby yell out.

As I enter the the treeline, I stop and look at the ground to find drag marks in the dirt. '_No...no...no. This can't be happening!_' I begin to sprint through the forest, following the tracks, calling out to Blake, only to be met with more silence. I soon find myself approaching another clearing, and I quickly break through the treeline. I spot a man, dressed in a red and black hooded vest w/ a medal shoulder plate, as well as a compound bow and quiver slung over his back. He climbs onto a Nevermore, with Blake in his arms, unconscious. '_A bloody Nevermore, of all things!_'

"BLAKE!" I yell out to her. The guy looks back at me, and we meet eye-to-eye; the scumbag is a wolf Faunus. Not only that, but my heart stops when I see him wearing Adam's mask. '_Is this some kind of sick joke or a bad dream?_' I throw Bangalore to the ground, draw my pistol, and open fire on the Nevermore. I unload the entire magazine, but to no avail as the Nevermore flies away. As the bird disappears over the horizon, I fall to my knees with my pistol still in hand. I release the slide, which is locked back due to the lack of ammunition, and I just sit there with tears flowing down my cheeks.

* * *

A few moments later, I hear the girls run up to me from behind.

"Shane! What happened? Where's Blake?" Ruby frantically asks while carrying Blake's weapon.

Yang comes up to me and kneels to the right of me with her hand on my shoulder. "Shane, what happened?"

"She's...g-gone..."

"Who? Blake?" I slowly nod. The girls look to each other in shock. Just then, I raise my pistol to my head and scream at the top of my lungs,

"AAAHHHHHH!" *CLICK* I pull the trigger, but there's no round in the chamber. The girls gasp at what they just witnessed.

I lower my pistol and holster it as I slowly stand up. I turn around to face Ruby, and I gesture her to give me Blake's weapon, and she hands it over without hesitation. I sling it over my back, pick up Bangalore, and begin to walk away.

"Shane? Where you going?" Weiss calls out to me. I simply ignore the girls and walk back to Beacon. They eventually decide to follow me. '_Screw the mission, I have to report the situation to Professor Ozpin immediately._'

After over two hours of walking, we arrive back at Beacon. The sun has already started to set. I storm into Ozpin's office.

"Ah, Mr. Carbon. Has the mission already been completed?" he asks before taking a sip of his coffee.

"With all due respect, sir, but screw the mission."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Blake's been kidnapped."

"Ms. Belladonna? Kidnapped?" as his eyes widen

"Yes, sir. We were ambushed in a clearing by an Ursa Major, a King Taijitu, and a Death Stalker. When none of us were looking, somebody snatched her, and dragged her away. I chased after them, but when I got to another clearing, the kidnapper took off on a Nevermore with her in his arms. That's the last time I saw her."

"Hmm...alright, I'll report this to the Police Department immediately." he says as he pulls out his tablet. He looks over to me, "In the mean time, I want you to go and get some rest."

"But, sir...I–" He raises his hand to cut me off,

"That's not a suggestion, Mr. Carbon."

I bow my head and sigh, "Yes, sir," as I turn and walk out.

* * *

I quietly walk over to the shooting range, and go to a firing line. I pull out a target, hang it up on the rack, then press the button to send it down range. I pull out Bangalore, flip the selector switch to 'All', and pull the trigger. *BANG* Upon lighting the target on fire, I realize that it was still loaded with my hybrid ammo. I press the button to recall it as I grab a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

I grab another target, and send it down range, but this time, I take shots with my pistol. I do this for little over a half an hour, and I go through at least nine or ten magazines. I decide to do one more before I leave. I load my pistol, take aim, then imagine the target being the Faunus who took Blake, and I open fire. I empty the magazine in mere seconds – All rounds on target. Out of the fifteen shots, seven are head shots, while the rest are center mass. I recall the target, rip it off the rack, toss it in the trash can, and spit at it as an insult. I quickly disassemble my pistol and clean it, put it back together, then head for the door.

As I exit the shooting range and begin to walk down the hallways back to the dorm room, I find myself blocked off by Team CRDL. Obviously Cardin would grow a pair when he's got his team to back him up. I stop about five feet away from them,

"Can I help you, gents?" I ask with a hint of aggression and fatigue in my voice.

"Hmm...maybe you can let us give you a beat down..." Cardin says with a smug look on his face as he cracks his knuckles.

"Tonight's really not the best time to be doing this..."

"Really?"

"I would have liked to have been left in peace."

Cardin shrugs, "Well...too bad." The team then forms semi-circle around me.

"This is your last chance to walk away..."

"You kidding me? It's four against one."

I pause for a moment to examine the team. "It's two against one..."

Cardin looks at me with a surprised look as he looks at his team. "How do you figure?"

"Well once I take out the leader...which is you, I'll have to contend with one...or maybe even two enthusiastic wing men. The rest? They always run..."

"What, have you done this before?" He asks. I merely give a slight nod as I roll my eyes in response.

"It's getting late," I say as I get into a boxing stance. Cardin follows suit. "Remember, you wanted this." Cardin gives a smile in response, then throws a wild right hook at me. I quickly dodge by squatting and his fist goes over my back, and I elbow him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. I grab him by the back of his shirt collar to pull him up,

"It's okay. You're okay. Get up." Just then I give him a swift kick in the testicles from behind, and he yells out in pain, then hits the floor. I take a step back to check the rest of the team. Russel and Dove take a step towards me in fighting stances, while Sky checks on Cardin.

"Alright...now we know who's who. Let's get this over with."

Just then, Dove tries to do throw a right hook, but I block with my left arm, and counter attack by stepping in and slash back and forth with my elbow across his face. He stumbles back with a cut across his face, and stands back to let Russel attack. Russel steps forward and tries to deliver a round house kick, but I catch his leg and tuck it under my arm. He starts hopping around on the one leg, and I deliver a punch to his abdomen, causing him to struggle in maintaining his balance. Dove and Sky stand side-by-side, look to each other, and nod.

"Really?" as I look at them with an annoyed expression. I then deliver a hard kick to the back of Russel's thigh, causing him to collapse and cry out in sheer agony. Just as he hits the floor, Dove and Sky decide to run. As they flee, I turn my attention to Cardin. I walk over to him and kneel down next to him,

"You forget a thousand things in a day, Mr. Winchester. Do us both a favor, and make sure this **isn't** one of them." I stand up and walk away, leaving Cardin and Russel on the ground, groaning in pain. Truth be told, they actually did me a favor. The fight gave me an excuse to vent my anger and frustration.

* * *

A short time later, I arrive at the dorm room. As I enter, the girls are sitting on their beds, conversing about Blake, but they go silent as I enter. None of us exchange words for a the first moment or two of me entering. I unclip my utility belt and toss it onto my chair. After that, I walk over to Blake's bed, rest Gambol Shroud across it, then turn and walk over to the window. I just stand there gazing at the night sky and begin to think about what to do next. '_I'll go and see Donovan tomorrow. Maybe he can help..._'

Yang and Weiss come up to me, and each rest a hand on my shoulders,

"Don't worry Shane, we'll find her" Yang says.

"Yeah. Blake's a tough girl." Weiss says with assurance.

I just stand there, and nod in response. Weiss is right, Blake is tough, but if the White Fang puts her through what I've been through, I doubt she'll be able to last long. I need to find her...before it's too late.

* * *

*NOTE: If you could take a moment out of your time to check out my good friend "redjoker27," that would be greatly appreciated! Him and I are now beginning a crossover with his story, "Genesis III Project." We have been working diligently in order to prepare for this, so stay tuned for more to come from the both of us! In the event that he is unable to release other chapters in a timely manor, do not fret as he is currently busy with both school work and personal matters, but he will do his best to write and complete his story as soon as he can.

Also worth noting, "The Assassin's Mentor" is requesting OC ideas for his story, "Ghosts of Remnant: United Offensive," which is a RWBY and Call of Duty: Ghosts crossover. I'd appreciate it if you could check him out and lend a helping hand with ideas of OCs to add to his story. More information will be at the end of Chapter 4 in his story.

Other than that, that's all for this week. I look forward to posting the next chapter next week. Until then, farewell...


End file.
